1968-1979 and 1980-1984
Liberal
“TRUDEAUMANIA”
 48 years old, unwed and much younger than most
politicians of the time
 brought youthfulness and promise of change
TRUDEAU AS MINISTER OF JUSTICE

Wrote, sponsored and saw a bill passed that
altered the justice system in Canada: Criminal
Law Amendment Act, 1968-69
The act entailed:
 decriminalizing homosexual relations,
 legalizing abortion
 granting women equal pension rights
 imposing new gun ownership laws
 criminalizing drunk driving
SOCIAL POLICIES AND CHALLENGES


Trudeau had a vision of Canada becoming a “Just
Society”
"I've always dreamt of a society where each
person should be able to fulfill himself to the
extent of his capabilities as a human being, a
society where inhibitions to equality would be
eradicated. This means providing individual
freedoms, and equality of opportunity, health,
and education, and I conceive of politics as a
series of decisions to create this society."
•
- Pierre Elliott Trudeau
Official Languages
Act, 1969
Multiculturalism
Act, 1987
Charter of
Rights and
Freedom, 1982
Official Languages Act, 1969




In 1969 the Canadian gov’t passed the
Official Languages Act making English
& French both official languages
Central feature of Trudeau’s new
federalism
Mandated that the federal government
conduct its business & provide
government services in English or French
Federal employees who dealt with
Canadians ha to speak both languages
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982



The Charter forms the first 35 sections of the Constitution Act
signed by Queen Elizabeth on April 17, 1982
In line with Trudeau’s vision of an independent and nationalist
nation that prioritized fundamental human rights and freedoms
Sought to prevent laws that unfairly discriminate or take away
human rights
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982
Continued


prohibited discrimination against individuals
based on: ethnicity, gender, religion or sexuality
the legal protection of the rights of minorities to
their language and education in that language
Reception of the Charter



The Charter was received with both
excitement and anxiety
People rejoiced with the fact that the
charter (as part of the constitution)
has the power to expand and
protect human rights
Others were wary b/c it would
transfer some power from elected
officials to the courts
 Some saw this as anti-democratic
Multiculturalism Act, 1987



Not passed until 1987, three years after Trudeau had
resigned as Prime minister & retired from public office
Trudeau’s time as Prime Minister = responsible for the
gradual redirection of Canada towards a public policy
that encouraged Canadian’s to be loyal citizens to
Canada while celebrating their cultural heritage
While Trudeau was Prime Minister the initiative was not
given the higher levels of federal funding that it later
received
Reaction to the Multiculturalism Initiative

The initiative was seen as a way for Trudeau to
deny the demands of the Quebecois who thought
of Canada was bi-cultural
Vs.
ECONOMIC POLICIES AND CHALLENGES
Economy began to slow down in early 1970
 By mid 1970s – high inflation and high
unemployment rates

Many failed attempts
at getting employers
and unions to
voluntarily agree to
wage restrictions
ANTI-INFLATION ACT of OCT 1975
Limited increases in
wages and prices
Anti-Inflation Act of Oct 1975

Applied to all federal employees and
private companies with 500 or more
employees

Farmers and fishers, for example, were
exempt from price controls

Increases in wages were capped at 10%
in first year, 8% in second year and 6%
in third year
PUBLIC REACTION
Many were against wage controls because it
limited their earning potential
 Some workers, esp low-paid, workers in schools,
hospitals and municipal govt, were affected the
most
 Unions were severely restricted in their ability to
bargain for higher pay

Largest organized labour protest in North American
history led by Labour Council on Oct 14, 1976 – more
than 1 million workers walked off their jobs
RESULT
Wage and price controls  removed in 1978
 Anti- Inflation Board  dissolved in 1979
 FAILURE for Trudeau

BACKGROUND:
 1973 Arab-Israeli war 
increase in cost of oil
 Arab countries drastically
reduced oil exports to US
thus Alberta oil became
more valuable
 Trudeau put tax on Alb’s oil
exports to help pay for oil in
central and eastern Canada
Canada’s oil reserves had
been under control of US
corporations thus most of
the profits went to US
 NDP first proposed idea of
creating govt-run oil
company
 Liberals had minority govt
thus NDP held balance of
power Petro-Canada was
created
 Became symbol of
Canadian nationalism



1.
2.
3.
Govt wanted more control over country’s
energy
Trudeau declared that Alb’s oil profits must
be shared throughout the country
Three Main Objectives:
Increase Canadian ownership in oil industry
Make Canada self-sufficient in oil
Make more money for fed govt
• Believed that NEP was designed to strip their
province of its natural wealth
• Premier of Alb, Lougheed,
announced that oil shipments
rest of Canada would be cut
• NEP was revised so that
Canadian oil price = world
• NEP left legacy of Albertan
anger toward Trudeau
to
price
toward



Canada's national debt = $18 billion when he
took office
$200 billion when he left an increase of
1,100 %
Yes this is true!!!!
 Came
in to effect in 1978
 Gave more power to provinces to set their own
immigration laws
 Established three categories of immigrants:
1. Refugee Status –those forced to leave their
country because of invasion, disaster or
persecution
2. Family Status – Sponsored by family members
3. Independent Status – “POINTS SYSTEM”
assigns points for education, experience,
language, adaptability and age
 In
1969 Trudeau scraped 1876 Indian Act and
proposed June 1969 “White Paper”
INTENTIONS:
a. integrate Aboriginal Canadians into the rest of
society, rather than treat them as a separate
group
b.
c.
advancement of individual rights instead of
collective rights of Aboriginal people
Responsibility of Aboriginal people services
would be on provincial govt
Wanted to eliminate “Indian” as a distinct legal
status in hopes of achieving greater equality
 many
natives opposed these plans
 creation of National Indian Brotherhood,
leaders claimed they were
interested in self-govt not
assimilation
 Trudeau withdrew White
Paper and did very little
to deal with this issue
until 1973 with Supreme
Court decision confirming
legality of Aboriginal land
claims
 1970
the Quebecois separatism
took a violent turn
 The FLQ kidnapped British
Trade Commissioner, James
Cross and later the Quebec
Minister of Labour, Pierre
Laporte
 Trudeau responded by ordering
the army to patrol the streets
and gov’t buildings in Ottawa
 Trudeau
then invoked the War
Measures Act (1914)
 suspended civil liberties
 allowed the police to search
and seize people without a
warrant
 arrest suspects without
being charged with an
offence or being brought to
trial
 The
October Crisis was the first time that the
act had been invoked during peacetime
 Hundreds of citizens (mainly Quebecois)
were detained by police for suspected FLQ
connections
 Some were jailed for months without being
charged
 Pierre Laporte was murdered
 James cross returned
 Increased support for political means of
attaining independence
 Trudeau’s
decision to
invoke the act was a
great source of
controversy
 Tommy Douglas, leader
of the federal NDP,
condemned the actions
of the FLQ, yet
criticized the
government for its
response
 Likened the War
Measures Act to “using
a sledgehammer to
crack a peanut”
 Brought
the country’s constitution to Canada
from Britain for the first time
 Partition refers to making the constitution
only amendable by Canada without the
involvement of the British Parliament
 April 17, 1982, Queen Elizabeth II declared
Canada’s independence from the British
Parliament
Canada’s Foreign Policies
 Relations
with USA
 Relations with the world
 Peace Initiative
 Relations with China
 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
(GLWQA)
 NATO
 Arctic
CANADA AND US RELATIONS
 Had no feel for American society, politics, or popular
culture
 Relations with US Presidents varied
US RELATIONS Cont.
 Trudeau said the overwhelming American presence in
Canada posed “a danger to our national identity from a
cultural, economic and perhaps even military point of
view.”
 Nixon said “It’s time for us to recognize,” he stated, “that
we have very separate identities; that we have significant
differences; and that nobody’s interests are furthered
when these realities are obscured.”
US RELATIONS Cont.
 Nixon gov’t tried to pressure Canada
to participate in the Vietnam War
peace talks.
 condemned the Nixon administration
for prolonging the war and refused to
help
 disliked the US Strategic Defense
Initiative, known as “Star Wars.”
 Believed that Star Wars would increase
arms race
US RELATIONS Cont.
 Press conference in 1983, expressed




concern over US policy in Central and
South America
Complained that US supported Chile, El
Salvador, and Guatemala which were
countries that abused human rights
1983 – allowed the US to test the
accuracy of cruise missiles, without war
heads, in northern Alberta
Aboriginals and many environmentalists
objected
However courts ruled against them, and
the testing continued
CANADA & THE WORLD
 His efforts in foreign affairs
gained him worldwide respect
 “a modest power”
 concentrate on its internal
problems
 Embarked on a peace mission
to reduce nuclear tensions
between Soviet Union and US
 met with little success
CANADA & THE WORLD CONT.
 Established friendly relations




with Cuba
Believed that Canada should
keep its own independent
foreign policy
Strongly opposed apartheid in
South Africa
1970 – imposed an arms
embargo on South America
1977 – stopped all trade
assistance programs
CANADA & THE WORLD CONT.
NATO
Trudeau believed that all
aspects of Canada’s foreign
and defense policy must firstly
serve the country’s national
interests.
 NATO did not do this.
 1969, Trudeau made the
decision to withdraw half of the
Canadian force from NATO
Europe
 NATO had grown too large in
Canadian peacemaking

ARCTIC





Asserted authority over its Arctic
waters because its responsibility
for protecting the Arctic
environment.
1970, Arctic Waters Pollution
Prevention Act
Anticipated a whole body of vital
international law and of practice
regarding the regulation of the
transport by sea of bulk cargoes.
Article 234 in Law of Sea
Convention
To enhance Canada’s control
over its arctic waters
•August
30, 1983 Soviets
shot down Korean Airlines
Boeing 747 -10 Canadians
died.
•Trudeau wanted to take
action!
•Sept. 21, 1983- went to
23 heads of states and
wanted to spread the
world that “world leaders
had an obligation to urge
the superpowers to back
off.”
•Purpose-reduce Cold War
tensions, Reduce nuclear
arms by asking help from
other countries.

Travelled:












France
Netherlands
Belgium
Italy
West Germany
United Kingdom
United States
Soviet Union
United Nations in New York
Got support from Premier Zhao Ziyang
Result- East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania were
cooperating with Trudeau to end the tensions with Soviet
Union- a step towards ending tensions with the USA.
The initiative led Trudeau to receive the Albert Einstein
Peace Prize on November 13, 1984.
 Wanted
to end China’s isolation from the rest
of the world
 US opposed this
 First time in more than 20 years that China
had diplomatic relations in North America
1970- Canada
recognized People’s
Republic of China
(PRC)
 Become largest
trading partner
 Became friends with
China without USA’s
approval- reduce
dependence from USA








Agreement b/w Canada and
USA.
Great Lakes shared between
Canada and USA.
Drinking water to millions of
Canadians and Americans
April 15th, 1972- Trudeau and
Nixon signed the agreement.
Purpose- improve
environmental conditions in
the Great Lakes.
1978 purpose- "to restore and
maintain the chemical,
physical and biological
integrity of the waters of the
Great Lakes Basin
Ecosystem.”
Being revised till today!
WORK CITIED






Kinsman, Jeremy. "Who Is My Neighbour? Trudeau and Foreign
Policy." N.p., Aug. 2002. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
"Great Lakes." Government of Canada, Environment Canada.
Environment Canada, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
"The Canada Page." The Canada Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2013.
Oliver, Dean F. "Canada and NATO." Canadian War Museum.
Canadian Museum Civilization Corporation, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
Young, Oran R. "Canada and the United States in the Arctic: Testing
the Special Relationship." Canada and the United States in the Arctic:
Testing the Special Relationship. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
Baldwin, Douglas, and Patricia Baldwin. Prime Ministers of Canada:
Trudeau Era.Canada: Library and Archives Canda Cataloguing in
Publication, 2007. Print.
THE END